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Given the recent reports on outrageous payments to executives of the still-hemorrhaging government-owned housing financers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, perhaps it is time for protesters to move on to occupying Washington.

Last week, Fannie Mae said it would need $7.8 billion more from Uncle Sam, after it posted a third-quarter loss of $5.1 billion. For anyone who isn't counting, it was the 16th loss in 17 quarters for Fannie. That came on the heels of Freddie Mac's gloomy report that its quarterly loss had widened to $4.4 billion, and that it would need another $6 billion handout from Washington. Already, Fannie and Freddie have borrowed a tidy $169 billion from U.S. taxpayers, and former FDIC Chairman William Isaac says their losses could reach $400 billion.

Ho-Hum: One person involved with Occupy Wall Street referred to the issues at Fannie and Freddie as "marginal."
William Waitzman for Barron's

Executives from the two firms, which were seized by the U.S. during the financial crisis, are no worse for wear, however. Ten of them raked in a total of $12.8 million in bonuses.

Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and John McCain of Arizona have introduced an amendment to stop bonuses at Fannie and Freddie while they are on the public dole.

But the cost of the bailouts and bonuses seems lost on some Occupy Wall Streeters. In an e-mail, one protester, Joshua Stephens, called such issues "marginal," and likened a preoccupation with them to "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." No one speaks for the OWS movement, but one staffer at the press desk at Zuccotti Park, Jason Ahmadi, was indignant. "My personal reaction is that this is why a lot of Americans are upset, and why we see this movement expanding," he said, adding that a rally in Washington might be a good idea.

Isaac expressed sympathy for the frustrations of the OWS and Tea Party, and encouraged them to elect those who can fix the problems. Sen. Barrasso suggested to Barron's that the protesters "should be occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

Last Week: Review

Opera, European Style

Italy's Senate approved a debt-reduction measure, clearing the way for a new government and giving the markets a much-needed lift. Earlier, Italian borrowing costs soared to euro-area records after margin requirements were raised. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lost a confidence vote, and former European Commissioner Mario Monti was expected to succeed him. In Greece, Lucas Papademos, a former ECB official, became prime minister. There was speculation of a breakup of the euro zone, or of a two-tier model, though German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed such talk. Efforts to set up a permanent European rescue fund were stymied.

Every Which Way

World equity markets gyrated on the European crisis, and the U.S. indexes saw one-day moves of several percentage points. Gold broke $1,800 an ounce, and crude oil futures neared $100 a barrel.

Oh, Joy

The U.N.'s nuclear agency charged that Iran is developing nuclear-weapons designs. Iran has denied the program is for military purposes. Nevertheless, the Obama administration is preparing to sell thousands of "bunker buster" bombs to a key Persian Gulf ally, The Wall Street Journal said.

Sluggish Forecast

The European Commission cut its forecast for economic growth in the region in 2012 by more than half, to 0.5%. It said it sees a risk of recession, amid crisis containment.

Big Bankruptcy

Alabama's most populous county declared the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, after state lawmakers failed to back a deal with creditors to restructure more than $3 billion of debt. The bankruptcy, by Jefferson County, leaves creditors, including JPMorgan Chase, facing hundreds of millions of dollars of losses.

And the Beat Goes On

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain continued to call allegations by four women that he sexually harassed them false. Rick Perry suffered a setback at a debate after he was unable to name the third of three agencies he said he would dismantle if elected.

Scandal Ends an Era

Penn State University fired legendary football coach Joe Paterno and its president, amid disclosures that Paterno failed to call police in 2002 after learning that a former assistant coach had engaged in allegedly sexually inappropriate behavior with a boy in a campus locker room.

In Brief

• Facebook was said near a deal to settle an FTC case on privacy.

• Eight SEC staffers were disciplined over their handling of the Madoff Ponzi scheme case.